Source: Radio New Zealand
Broadcasting Minister Paul Goldsmith confirmed on Thursday the board chair of TVNZ contacted him after the police minister expressed dissatisfaction with a 1News story about gang numbers. RNZ / Mark Papalii
Broadcasting minister Paul Goldsmith says he “may have grunted” at TVNZ’s board chair after Andrew Barclay raised a crime story with him.
Goldsmith was quizzed about the exchange for an unusually long 12 minutes by Labour’s Reuben Davidson in Question Time on Thursday afternoon.
The minister confirmed the pair discussed TVNZ’s financials – due out on Friday – and board appointments in the 1 March phone call.
Barclay raised a TVNZ law and order story – that the government had been critical of – “in the context of the board’s interest in improving trust in TVNZ”, he said.
“I didn’t engage further in the discussion on that matter.”
A few days after the phone call, he had spoken at aTVNZ-hosted event celebrating the 60th anniversary of Country Calendar, Goldsmith said.
“(I) spoke with three board members and the chief executive. To the best of my knowledge, TVNZ news coverage did not come up in those conversations. The primary point of discussion was the history of Country Calendar.”
It was at this point that National minister Judith Collins interjected: “Best thing on TV!”
Goldsmith continued, “Yesterday I spoke to the chair informing him that I had been questioned about our phone call on the way out of the House as a courtesy.”
“I rang him again at 6.30pm yesterday evening, after the coverage over the afternoon to check on his welfare, as he is a new chair.”
“I may possibly have grunted” – Goldsmith
As the supplementary questions wore on, Goldsmith was asked what he had said after Barclay raised the crime story with him.
“I didn’t engage further in the discussion on that matter, I may possibly have grunted but I’m not sure.”
Asked if it was appropriate for a minister to complain about TVNZ’s news coverage in public, referring to Minister of Police Mark Mitchell’s Facebook post, Goldsmith said it was par for the course.
“I’m afraid that does happen from time to time and it seems to me it’s quite possible that the previous Labour government ministers may have done that from time to time as well.
Goldsmith was quizzed for an unusually long 12 minutes by Labour’s Reuben Davidson during question time Thursday afternoon. RNZ / Angus Dreaver
“I’ve often made the observation that a politician complaining about the media is like a farmer complaining about the weather. You may be right, but it makes no difference, and so you’ve got to figure out how to succeed in any respect.”
Government MPs had been laughing throughout Goldsmith’s answers but burst into applause after this.
The laughing continued when Davidson asked Goldsmith what he had done about other government ministers complaining about news coverage at TVNZ.
“Well, my concern is that I might find that I have no time left to do anything else if I was bothering myself [with that]. It is unfortunately something that happens from time to time, whether or not that’s fair or not is inappropriate.
“What I am clear about is the legislative requirement that no minister, including myself, should seek to direct TVNZ in relation to their coverage of news items, and we certainly haven’t done that.”
More details about the phone call
Taking questions from reporters before Question Time, Goldsmith said the phone call with Barclay had been “impromptu”.
“He sent me a text saying, can we have a chat? I called him back. I don’t think he answered, and he called me back. That was all.”
Goldsmith said it was not unusual for him to chat to board chairs over the weekend and TVNZ’s crime coverage had not been the impetus of the call.
“No. We were talking about a couple of things, talking about the financials of the company, the board appointments, I’ve got letters of expectations. There’s a range of issues that we covered.”
Goldsmith said his comments about the story had been appropriate.
“The broadcasting law is clear that no minister can give media instructions about political coverage or anything like that.
“All I was doing was saying I thought your story was bad, and this is why.”
“I don’t actually do it very often but occasionally I do it and I felt like doing it on this occasion.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
